Minister in The Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, has met with owners and executive leadership of print and digital media companies in South Africa to discuss an array of issues facing the industry.

“The purpose of the meeting was to discuss critical issues affecting the media sector, including the role of print media and its commitment to transformation in its entirety; the impact of over-the-top services (OTTs) in the sector, and proposals on media sustainability in the country.

“The meeting also reflected on additional issues affecting the sector, such as the decline in circulation figures and advertising, which resulted in job losses,” the Presidency said in a statement.

The Presidency said a further meeting to delve deeper into the principle of transformation in the media has been scheduled.

“On the issue of transformation, there was an in-principle agreement on what needs to be done, and today’s meeting agreed that a follow-up meeting will be scheduled with all affected role-players to look at the media transformation and revitalisation process, in light of convergence in South Africa and globally.

“Additionally, the meeting agreed that Minister Gungubele will hold more engagements with the ‘Big Five’ [of the industry], as well as the broader print and digital media sector to solicit inputs on the market definition of the sector; issues of linguistic diversity; as well as proposals to ensure the long-term sustainability of the entire sector,” the statement read.

Source: South African Government News Agency